Month: July 2016

The other day I saw a post from a friend who said he just heard the Pope say not to judge and leave all judging to God. Which, he agreed to.

Here it is in the Bible, Jesus’ words…

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged.” -Matthew 7:1

But… Is that what Jesus really meant when he said not to judge or you will be judged?

Whelp, let’s read a little more of the passage.

“For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” -Matthew 7:2

For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged. Hmm… it’s sure looking that way, but wait! There’s more!

“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”-Matthew 7:3-5

What does Jesus mean here when it comes to judging? What he’s talking about here is the hypocritical judgment used to bring oneself up, while tearing someone else down.

One thing I’ve noticed in myself is… When I judge someone (with the wrong motives) it’s usually me judging them about the things I hate about myself. Have you ever noticed that too?

Now what Jesus does say about judging in John 7:24 is, “Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment.”

Even the Apostle Paul says, “What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. ‘Expel the wicked man from among you.'” (1 Corinthians 5:12)

When it comes to judgment, what we are to do is confront those who are sinning, and never think that you are better than someone else.

Just remember, be sure you’re making a right judgment while not having a hypocritical, judgmental attitude.

As I was pulling into the Walmart parking lot tonight, I noticed a homeless man sitting at the corner with his head down while holding a sign. The sign said he was homeless, hungry, and a diabetic.

How could you not have compassion for this guy?

As I was going through Walmart I thought about giving him food. But then it hit me…

“It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'” -Matthew 4:4

I thought about getting him a Bible or some uplifting book with God’s Word.

I ended up picking up a daily devotional called Jesus Calling by Sarah Young.

So what did I do as I picked up this devotional? I went to today’s devotional and read what it said. Check it out: “Do not worry about tomorrow!”

Wow! Here’s a man who has nothing to eat, and today’s devotional is “Do not worry about tomorrow!”

I looked across to the other page for tomorrow’s devotional and… even bigger WOW!!!

It started off by saying, “Self-pity is a slimy, bottomless pit.”

Yeah, I’m sure if you were homeless and hungry you’d be feeling self-pity too.

So, how do you overcome all of this?

I thought this would have been a perfect gift for him, and I couldn’t wait to give it to him.

But… Unfortunately, the man wasn’t at the corner as I was leaving. I looked around for him but didn’t find him. I guess God had bigger plans for him that I’ll never know. So now the only thing I can do is pray for him.

Now there is a lesson here. It’s about GOD. It’s all about our Lord and Savior!

We must feed and meditate on God’s word day and night.

“Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.” -Joshua 1:8

So many horrible things are going on in the U.S. and the World, and there’s really only one fix to it all…

What’s this fix? Whelp…

It starts with YOU. It starts with ME. It starts with US.

It all starts on the inside.

Jesus says, “First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.” (Matthew 23:26)

If you want to see change in the world then you have to first start from within. You have to work on YOU.

When I was going through my divorce, I was speaking with a Godly man who told me there was nothing I could do to bring my wife back, but the one thing I could do was to work on myself. (Que the lightbulb!)

That was the real change in my life. Working on myself. Working on the inside. Diving into the Word of God.

So Invite Jesus into your life. Ask him to work not only on you but within you.